Abstract
Social media communication has become an important tool both in relying information to potential consumers, as well as in creating experience sharing opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of’ social media communication on the loyalty formation in retailing. The tasks to be carried out are: (1) to research theoretical framework of social media communication and loyalty; (2) to work out methodology for empirical research; (3) to carry out research on consumers’ perception of retail stores online communication. Within the framework of the current study the authors employed a method of customer survey. Applying the non-probability snowball sampling method the questionnaire was distributed via e-mails and Facebook groups (n=327). The general population in this research consisted of the economically active Latvia residents in 2020. The authors used 5-point Likert scale (1-low evaluation, 5 – very high evaluation). The SPSS program was used for this purpose, the following indicators were calculated: arithmetic mean (X ̅), Median (Me); Mode (Mo); Variation; Standard Deviation; Variation Coefficient. The research question posed in the article was the following: What role does social media play in enhancing consumer loyalty in retailing?
 Findings: 87% of all respondents have noticed the communication of Latvian retail store networks on social media and 60% of all respondents have chosen to follow the profile of social networks to one of them, which indicates the untapped opportunities of companies in this respect. Evaluating the communication of Latvian retail store chains, the arithmetic average is 2.68, but for communication on social media - 2.72. It means that in order to increase these indicators, Latvian retail store chains must develop a communication strategy taking into account both the values of the target audience and the basic principles of building relationships with customers. The current research results can serve as grounds for the strategy development.
Highlights
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of’ social media communication on the loyalty formation in retailing
The research question posed in the article was the following: What role does social media play in enhancing consumer loyalty in retailing? Findings: 87% of all respondents have noticed the communication of Latvian retail store networks on social media and 60% of all respondents have chosen to follow the profile of social networks to one of them, which indicates the untapped opportunities of companies in this respect
Within the framework of the survey, respondents were given the opportunity to evaluate the communication of Latvian retail store chains with customers in general and on social media in particular on the Likert scale in a 5-point system, where 1 is a very low rating and 5 is very high
Summary
The main conclusions from the research were the following: (1) the comparison of supermarket selection criteria evaluations with the actual supermarket performance indicators showed that the five selection criteria (assortment of products, including local and eco products, marketing activities, quality of service, employee attitude and employment policy and responsible attitude to environment) were ranked higher than the actual supermarket ratings; (2) customers in the Baltic States demonstrated a relatively low loyalty ratio for the company; (3) comparing the customer survey with the expert survey led to the conclusion that the most divergent indicator was the price level, which according to the experts was the most important in the choice of the shop; (4) both surveys exhibited the false loyalty phenomenon, namely – that the location of the store (convenience) was the key factor in choosing the particular shopping point, rather than reputation, image and social activities (Linina et al, 2019). The loyalty can be defined as result of the consumer's perception of the supply (product, service, brand, etc.), which has led to positive attitudes (cognition, trust and emotional) and positive action regarding the offer
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